Power-transmission mechanism.



` W. DONALDSON & G. W. MARBLE.

POWER TRANSMISSION MEOHANISM.'

APPLIUATION FILED smmm, 190e. 906, 1 1 8. Patented Dec. s, 1908. s SHEETS-SHEET 1.

J6 l hv W. R. DONALDSON &.G. W'. MARBLE. vPOWER TRANSMISSION MEGHANISM. APPLIUATION FILED QEPT. 24, 1906.

Patented Dec.8,190 8.

W. R. DONALDSON L G. vW. MARBLE.

POWER TRANSMISSION MEGHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 24, 1906.

vPatented 1360.8, 1908.v

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

@van 2%26.

Zaan??? ona'ivo To all) fwhom #may concern:

Y. near their outer endl cause the shafts to vibrate on their ment with the vdriving disks.

undesirable and 'are geared by means ofldrive-chains to the of the traction surfaces.

WILLIAM R. DONALDSON AN D GEORGE W. MARBLE, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

PQWR-TRANSMISSION MECHAN ISM.

No. scans.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 8, 1908.

I Application mea september 24, 190s'. serial No. 336,009.

Be it known that we, WILLIAM R` DON- ALDsoN and GEORGE W. MARBLE, -citizens of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the countyof Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a new and/usefullmprvement in Power-Transmission Mechanism, of which the following is a specification.

- Our invention relates to improvement in the construction of double rolling traction power-transmission mechanism for automobiles, or the like, more especially of the l tylpe employing internal combustion, or ot 1er, prime movers which for power efiiciency are operated at constant speed. For convenience, in the application of this type of transmission-mechanism to automobiles, confronting drivin disks are mounted on the propeller shaft an adjustable, speed-changing driven rollers are mounted between the disks on separate laterally adjustable driven shafts, means being provided for moving the driven shafts laterally to throw the rollers into and out of engagement with the disks, and means vbeing provided for moving the rollers coincidently toward and away from the center of rotation of the propeller shaft to change the transmitted speed. The said driven shafts carry sprocket-wheels which It has been ournal the driven shafts s in xed bearing'sand to bearings 1n moving the rollers into and out of engage- This construction, however, has been found to be objectional in practice, because among other reasons, the changes in angle of the vibratory shafts throw the sprocket-wheels out of direct line with the chains they are driving, which results in making the transmission unduly noisy and is, for other obvious reasons, because any wear upon the peripheries of the rollers and faces of the disks, causesthe rollers to extend out of erpendicular with' the faces of the disks, w iile engaging the same, resulting in unequal wear] traction wheels of the vehicle. usual, hitherto, to

Our Objectis to provide ad j listing-mechanism for the rollers which shall be free from the above noted, and other, objections; and it is also our object to provide various improvements in details of the said adjustingmechanism, for the purpose of simplifying and cheapening the construction and rendering it particularly responsive, strong, durable and desirable for its purpose.

Referring to the *accompanying drawings, Figure lqis a broken, partly sectional, plan view showing our improvements 1n operative position and in the form.` inwhich we now prefer to provide them; Fig. 2, a broken longitudinal section taken on line 2 iii Fig. l with the disks in elevation; Fig. 2a, a section of a rock shaft illustrating, merely, the relative positions of eccentric disks carried thereby; Fig. 3, an enlarged section taken on lineA 3 in Fig. 1 Fig. 4, an enlarged cross sectlon taken on line 4 in Fig. 1 and Fig. 5, a sectional fragmentary view taken on line 5 in Fi 4.

and 7 are the side beams and 8, 9, and 10 cross braces forming parts of an automobile under-frame. The propeller shaft, 11 is journaled in roller-bearing boxes, 12, bolted against the cross braces of the frame, and 1s held against longitudinal play by means of collars, 13, as indicated. Fastencd to the shaft, 11., between the braces, 9 and 10, are confronting disks, 14, 14, formed with suitable friction faces.

15 and 16 are the upper and lower members, respectively, of va horizontally split sleeve loosely surrounding the propeller shaft, 11, and fastened together by means of bolts, 17, las indicated. lThe opposite end 'portions ofl the sleeve are shaped into ballbearing cups, 18,ai1d contain outer racemember rings, 19. Fastened to the shaft, against the inner faces of the disks, 14, are bearing cones, or inner ball-race members, 20, balls being confined between the race members whereby the shaft rotates freely in the said surrounding sleeve. Midway between the disks, 14, the upper and lower members, 15, 16of the sleeve, are reduced4V to a thickness" approximating the diameterof the propeller-shaft, A1,1,ais/indicated in Fig. 4. Integral witlijilieiuder side Of the vided with/a/'threadedopening, 22.

/2'31/s a bearing-pin provided at its center with a thread to engage the threaded opening, 22, and projecting from the opposite sides of the web as shown.

Fastened against the under sides of thef side beams, 6 and 7, are bearing brackets, 24,

formed with large openings, 25, and small bearingopenings 26, in the relative posivthe faces of the friction disks, 14.

tions indicated in'Fig. 5. The openings, 26, are in direct line with the opening, 22, in the Web described.

27, 27 are similar yoke-frames, each provided at its outer end with a sleeve, 28 and at its inner end with asleeve, 29. The sleeves, 28, are provided with downward-projecting ears, 30, having threaded openings through` them to receive the threaded end-portions of bearing-pins, 31, which are journaled in the openings, 26,'of the brackets, 24.

32, 32 are driven shafts journaled toward their outer ends in roller-bearings, 33, in the sleeves, 28, and journaled at their inner ends in roller-bearings, 34, in the sleeves, 29. Each of the shafts, 32, is provided beyond its bearing, 33, with a sprocket-wheel, 35, and is held against longitudinal play in its supporting-yoke by inner and outer collars, 36, which rotate against opposite ends of the sleeves, 23. Each shalt is rovided, between its journal bearings, with a longitudinal groove, or key-way, 37. On each shaft, 32, is a dished driven-wheel, or roller, 33, having a circumferential traction surface, 39. The rollers are feathered to the grooves, 37, and may be slid longitudinally of their shafts. Journaled in the frame, in the position shown, is a rock-shaft, 40, having an operating lever, 41, beyond the side beam, 7. rlhe shaft, 40, carries two oppositely projecting eccentric disks, 42, as indicated in Fig. 2a. On the disks,-42, are eccentric rings, 43, each pivotally connected by a rod, 44, with a lug, 45, carried by the respective yoke-frame. Interposed in the rods, 44, are turnbucklesl, whereby they 'may be lengfiened or shortened for adjustment. As shown, one rod, 44, forms a connection between one eccentric disk, 42, and one yoke-frame, 27, while the other rod, 44, forms a connection between the other eecentric disk and the other yoke-frame.

ln practice the rollers, 38, are but slightly less in diameter than the distance between Rocking of the shaft, 40, in one direction, vibrates. the yokes simultaneously in o )positie directions on their fulcrums, 23, 26, whereby the shafts, 37 are 'moved through their len rths bodily in opposite directions. Thus in t ie movement oi' the lever, 41, in one direction, one roller, 38, will be moved into contact with one disk, 14,1and the other roller, 38, with the other disk, 14, causing the shafts, 32, and their sprocket-wheels, 35, to be rotated simultaneously in the same direction. Movement of the lever, 41, in the contrary direction disenga es the rollerssimultaneously from the dis while still further movement causes the rollers to enga e the op osite disks and rotate the driven s afts an their sprocketwheels in the opposite direction. In theI swinging of the yokes the shafts are main-y tained at all times in exact parallelism with p scans the faces of the disks, 14, and the angles of the rollers, 38, with reference to the disks, and all the sprocket-wheels with reference to their drive chains, never change. sures perfect frictional contact of the roller faces, 39, with. the disk faces. With the movement of the sprocket-wheels slight relaXing and tensioning of the drive chains occurs, but the distance of movement is so slight as to render this action immaterial.

In grooves on the hubs of the rollers, 3 are rings, 47, pivotally engaged by the bifurcated ends, 48, of levers, 49, fulcruined at 50. Links, 51, connect the short arms of the levers, 49, with a longitudinally sliding bar, 52, connected with a sleeve 52- sliding on a guide-rod 52. A rock-shaft, 53, carries an operating lever, 54, and a crank, 55, which latter is pivotally connected by means of a link, 56, with a lever, 57. The lever, 57, is iulcrumed to the side-beam, 7, at 58 and is pivotally connected at 59 with the end of the bar, 52. Turning of the lever, 54, in one direction causes the lever, 57 to move the bar, 52, and through it the links, 51, and swing the levers, 49, at their long arms in the direction of each other and slide the rollers simultaneously and equally toward' the center of rotation of the shaft 11. Movement of the operating lever, 54, in the other direction from that stated, has the eilect of sliding the rollers simultaneously away from each other. Thus the rollers may be caused, when high speed is desired, to engage the disks near the peripherie's of the latter; and the shape of the rollers permits them to be moved at their periphcries, for slow speed, close to the center of rotation of the disks, their dished centers clearing the sleeve-portions, 29, of the yokes. Owing to the system of leverage,

This inshown and described, comparatively slight swinging movement of the lever, 54, is `necessary to shift the rollers between the positions of highest and lowest speed-transmission.

The operating mechanisms for throwing the rollers into and out of engagement with the disks and for effecting change in speedtransmission, consist of comparatively few parts, all of which are of particularly strong and durable construction. Thev work without any material lost motion amare particularly free from danger of wear.

Our improvements, in their broadest sense, may be applied to traction powertransmission devices of the single as well as double rolling type, and they may be emloyed in other connections than automoiles. 1l desired the fulerums ol the rockingframes,r or yokes, may be at the upper, instead of the lower, side of the shaft which carries the disks, therebyl changing the character of the frames, or yokes, from levers of the second to levers of the iirst order. These and other changes in the detailsoi construction may, obviously, be made without deeea; 1e

fric-tion faces, rocking .frames extending transversely of and between the disks and eaclidfnlcruined to one side of the plane of said 'fshafa bearings on the frames, a trans verse shaft journaled in the said bearingsof each of said frames, a roller on each of said transverse shafts, between the disks, having a peripheral friction surface, and means for rocking said frames on their fulerums simultaneously in o posite directions to move the rollers into an( out of frictional engagement with the disks and maintain the parallelism of the transverse shafts and disk-faces.

2. ln a double rolling power-transmitting mechanism, the combination of a main frame, a shaft j ournaled therein, two parallel disks on the shaft having confronting friction faces, a sleeve surrounding the shaft between the disks, rocking frames extending transversely of and between the disks and Y fulcrumed upon the said sleeve, bearings on the frames, a transverse shaft journaledin the said bearings of each of said rocking frames, a roller on each of sald transverse ',shafts, between the said disks, having a pe- 'ri'pheralfriction surface, and means for rocking said frames on their fulcrums simultaneously in opposite directions, to move the rollers into and out of frictional engagement with the disks and maintain the arallelism of the transverse shafts and diskaces.

3. ln a double rolling .power-transmitting mechanism, the combination of a main frame, a shaft journaled therein, two parallel disks on the shaft having confronting friction faces, a sleeve surrounding the shaft between the disks, rocking frames extending transversely of and betweenv the disks and fulcrumed at their adjacent ends upon said sleeve and at their opposite ends` in the said main-frame, bearings on the frames, a .transverse shaft journaled in the said bearings of each of said rocking frames, a roller' on each of said transverse shafts, between the said' disks, having a peripheral friction surface, vand means for rocking said frames on their fulcrums, simultaneously in opposite directions, to move the rollers into and out of frictional en aeement with the disks and maintain para le ism of the transverse shafts and disk-faces- 4. In a double rolling power-transmission mechanism the combination of a mainframe, a shaft j ournaled therein, two parallel diskson the shaft having confronting friction faces, a sleeve surrounding said shaft between the` disks, rocking frames extending transversely of and between. the disks and.-

'fulcrumed at their adjacent ends upon the said sleeve and at their opposite ends in said main-frame, anti-friction bearings between the said sleeve and shaft, bearings on `the frames, a transverse shaft ,'ournaled in the 70 said bearings of each ofsai frames, a roller on each of said transverse shafts, betweensaid disks, having a peripheral friction surface, and means for rocking said frames on their fulcrums simultaneouslyr in'o posite 75 directions to move the rollers into an out of 'frictional engagement with the disks and maintain parallelism of thetransverse shafts and disk-faces. A

v5. ln a double rolling powentransmitting mechanism, the combination of a main frame, a shaft journaled therein, two parallel disks upon theshaft having confronting friction-faces, a sleeve surrounding the shaft bef. tween the disks, rocking frames extendin transversely of and between the disks an fulcrumed at their adjacent end-s upon the said sleeve and at their opposite ends in said main-frame, inner and outer `anti-friction bearings in each rocking frame, a transverse shaft on each rocking frame journaled toward opposite ends respectively in said antifriction bearin s, a roller on each-of said transverse shafts, between the said disks, having a peripheral friction surface, and means for rocking said frames on their fulcrums simultaneously in opposite directions, to move the rollers into and out of frictional engagement` with the disks and maintain parallelism of the shafts and disk-faces. 6.' In a double rolling power-transmitting mechanism, the combination of a shaft, two arallel disks thereon having confronting friction-faces, rocking' frames extending transversely of and between lthe disks and each fulcrumed to one side of vthe plane of said shaft, bearin s on theframes, a transverse shaft journa ed in said bearings of each of said frames, a roller onv each of said transverse shafts, between the said disks, having v a peripheral friction-surface, a rock-shaft provided with a pair of loppositely extending eccentrics operatively connected res ectively with said rocking-frames and roc ring means for the Isaid rock-shaft.

7 ln a double rolling power-transmittin0r mechanism, the combination of two parallel disks havin confronting friction-faces, two transverse s lafts between and parallel with Y said disk-faces, a roller on each of said transverse shafts disposed respectively on opposite sides ofthe center of rotation of said disks, means for 'shifting the rollers on their shafts simultaneously toward and away from l the center of rotation of the disks comprising levers fulcrumed on the main frame and iv-x otally connected with the hub portions of the rollers, lever actuating mechanism, and means for shifting the rollers laterally from disk to disk to reverse the mechanism'. 130

8. In a double rolling powentransmittin mechanism, the combination of two paralle disks having confronting friction-faces, two

` otally connecting the short arms of the said transverse shafts between and parallel with l said disk-faces, a roller on each of said transverseshaits disposed respectively on o posite sides of the center of rotation of sai means. for shifting' the rollers on their' shafts simultaneously toward and away from the center of rotation of the disks comprising levers fulcrumed between their ends on the main frame and pivotally connected at the disks,

90eme ends of their long arms with the hub-porJh tions of the rollers, a sliding bar, links piv.

levers with said bar, and bar reciprocating mechanism and an operating handle therefor and means for shifting the rollers laterally from disk to disk to reverse the mechanism.

WILLIAM R. DONALDSON. GEORGE W. MARBLE. In the presence oi'- W. B. DAX/IES, C. W. WASHBURNE.' 

